Ball-catcher.



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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.;v

STANLEY A. COHEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BALL-CATCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,814, dated April '7,V 1903.

Application filed April 23, 1902. Serial No. 104,290'. (No model.) A l .To aZZ whom, t nfl/cry concern:

Be it known that I, STANLEY A. COHEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York,borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new-and Improved BallgCatcher, of which the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description.

The invention relates to ping-pong, tabletennis, and like games in which use is made of balls of rubber, celluloid, or other material.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved ball-catcher more especially designed to enable the user to conveniently and quickly pick up a ball from the iioor, from under furniture, and other places under which the ball may have strayed during the playing of the game, the device being simple and durable in construction, easily manipulated, and arranged to`allow picking up the ball without requiring the person to stoop down.

The invention consists `of novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as will be more fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which` similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure lis a side elevation of the improvement, parts being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section of the same on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a similar View of the same with the jaws spread apart for engaging a ball, and Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of the same ou the line 5 5 of Fig.' 3.

The stick A of the ball-catcher shown in Figs. l to 5 is made hollow and provided at one end with a hollow handle B and at the other end with a foot-piece C, in which are pivoted the jaws D, having ring-shaped ends for engaging, holding, and releasing the ball E, as hereinafter more fully described.

The jaws D are provided at their pivotal ends with angular lugs D', engaging guideways F', formed on the front and rear sides of a block F, mounted to slide in the footpiece C and secured to one end of a rod G, extending through the hollowstick A and its handle B. A knob H is secured to the rod G at the outer end of the handle B, and the said knob is pressed on by one end of a spring I, set in a recess in the handle B, as plainly illustrated in Fig. l, so as to hold the knob H, rod G, and block F normally in an uppermost position and the jaws D in a closed position, as indicatedin Figs. l, 2, and 3. Now when the knob H is pressed by the palm of the hand of the operator having hold of thehandle B then the rod G is pressed downwardly, and in doing so moves the block F in a like direction, so that the guideways F', engaging the lugs D', impart an outward swinging motion to the jaws D, so that the latter open, as plainly shown in Fig. 4, to allow of straddling the ball with the rin g-shaped ends of the saidjaws. As soon as this has been done the operator releases the pressure on the knob H, so that the spring I moves the rod upward, and in doing so causes the block F to impart an'inward or closing movement to the jaws D, so that the ball is rmly engaged on opposite sides by the ring-shaped ends of the jaws to securely hold the ball in position, as illustrated in Fig. l. Thus by the arrangement described the ball on the floor or other place may be readily engaged by the device and lifted to the table or game-board, and then a slight pressure by the operator ou the knob H in a downward direction again causes opening of the jaws D, so that the ball drops out onto the game-board or into the hand of the operator or other person.

The knob H serves as a stop to limit the downward sliding movement of the rod G to prevent the jaws from opening too far, the knob being adapted to abut against the end of the handle B when pressed to open the jaws the desired distance.

It is evident that the means for opening and closing the vjaws are controlled from the hanforth. It'is also evident that the construction described may be varied so that the jaws are held normally in an ope'n position and are closed by the means manually controlled from the handle end of the stick.

Having thus described my invention, I

dle end of the stick in the manner above set r IOO claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. A ball-catcher, comprising a hollow handle provided with a footpiece at one end, ringshaped jaws pivoted to the foot'piece and each provided at its pivoted end with an angular lug, a block mounted to slide in the foot-piece, said block being recessed to receive the lugs of the jaws and having one end extending between the jaws to serve as a stop to limit the inward movement of the said jaws, and a spring-pressed rod secured to the block and extending out through the handle, as set forth.

2. A ball-catcher, comprising a hollow stick provided with a foot-piece at one end and a handle at its other end, said handle being provided with a longitudinal recess in its outer end, ring-shaped, jaws pivoted to the footpiece and each provided at its pivoted end with an angular lug, a block mounted to slide in the foot-piece, said block being recessed intermediate of its ends to receive the lugs of the jaws and having one end extending between the jaws to limit the inward movement of said jaws, a rod secured to the block and extending through the stick and handle and provided with a knob at its end, and a spring surrounding the rod in the recess of the handle, as set forth.

3. A ball-catcher, comprising a hollow stick provided with a handle'at one end, and a footpiece at the other, ring-shaped jaws independently pivoted to the foot-piece and each provided at its pivoted end with bifurcated lugs, a block mounted to slide in the footpiece and recessed on opposite sides to receive the members of the bifurcated lugs, a rod secured to the block and extending through the stick and handle and provided with a knob at its end, and a spring surrounding the rod within a recess in the handle between the knob and bottom of the recess, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

STANLEY A. COHEN.

Vitnessesz AUGUSTUS MAYER, M. J. GLYNN. 

